Need advice on whether my clinical volunteering will be enough

[WhiteCoatSyndrome]

Ok, so I have been volunteering at a free health clinic since the summer of 2010, but have run into a couple of problems. The clinic is only open wednesday and saturday mornings for 3 hours (6 hr/week) and I have only consistently volunteered during the summer and over breaks (except for last summer when I was out of town taking part in an REU) because it has been difficult for me to make it over during the school year.

At this point, I have accumulated approx. 100hrs at the clinic and plan to continue volunteering there until I apply for the 2013-2014 cycle (I am a junior and taking a year after graduation off before medical school), even more so now because my schedule is such that it is easier for me to make it over there.

Having said that, my questions are:

1) Can volunteering only at this free health clinic be seen as not experiencing enough clinical variety? The local hospital requires a high number of hours volunteered each week, which makes it difficult for me to complete while in school.

2) Will I have enough clinical volunteer experience by the time I apply based on the information I have given?

I am able to do a lot more at this health clinic than I can at a hospital, which is a big reason why I would rather volunteer there and although I already know the clinic coordinator, I hope to volunteer consistently enough by the time I apply to be able to ask for a LOR from her.

Thanks guys!

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[Catalystik]

Ok, so I have been volunteering at a free health clinic since the summer of 2010, but have run into a couple of problems. The clinic is only open wednesday and saturday mornings for 3 hours (6 hr/week) and I have only consistently volunteered during the summer and over breaks (except for last summer when I was out of town taking part in an REU) because it has been difficult for me to make it over during the school year.

At this point, I have accumulated approx. 100hrs at the clinic and plan to continue volunteering there until I apply for the 2013-2014 cycle (I am a junior and taking a year after graduation off before medical school), even more so now because my schedule is such that it is easier for me to make it over there.

Having said that, my questions are:

1) Can volunteering only at this free health clinic be seen as not experiencing enough clinical variety? The local hospital requires a high number of hours volunteered each week, which makes it difficult for me to complete while in school.

2) Will I have enough clinical volunteer experience by the time I apply based on the information I have given?

I am able to do a lot more at this health clinic than I can at a hospital, which is a big reason why I would rather volunteer there and although I already know the clinic coordinator, I hope to volunteer consistently enough by the time I apply to be able to ask for a LOR from her.

1) What type of clients does the clinic serve? Is it meant solely for preventive care, or do sick folks get care there, too?

2) What is your role in the clinic? What would your conservative estimate of hours accrued be by the time you are ready to apply in 14 months?

 

[WhiteCoatSyndrome]

1) What type of clients does the clinic serve? Is it meant solely for preventive care, or do sick folks get care there, too?

2) What is your role in the clinic? What would your conservative estimate of hours accrued be by the time you are ready to apply in 14 months?

The clinic serves the county I live in and provides medical care to anyone without health insurance and meets a few other requirements. Volunteer nurses and physicians are always there and if a patient needs care that the clinic can't provide, referrals can be made to the appropriate physician (dentist, optometrist, podiatrist etc.). So essentially, it is set up like a typical primary care clinic for those without health insurance. The free health clinic is just a bit more "low-tech".

I would say that I should have approx. 250 hrs total by then, which is a conservative value because if I were volunteer every possible day from this summer until then I would have about 350 hrs.

 

[Catalystik]

Assuming that you interact with the clients, I think this will be a more than satisfactory clinical experience that will be strong enough to stand on its own. The hours you will have and the duration of involvement will actually be above the average listed by applicants and should certainly be enough for you to get out of the experience what you are intended to learn.

Are some of those hours physician shadowing, where you passively observe (which would not be considered a "Volunteer" experience), or are you considering that separately? Most med schools expect both types of experiences.

 

[WhiteCoatSyndrome]

Assuming that you interact with the clients, I think this will be a more than satisfactory clinical experience that will be strong enough to stand on its own. The hours you will have and the duration of involvement will actually be above the average listed by applicants and should certainly be enough for you to get out of the experience what you are intended to learn.

Are some of those hours physician shadowing, where you passively observe (which would not be considered a "Volunteer" experience), or are you considering that separately? Most med schools expect both types of experiences.

Well, there have been times in which I have acted as a scribe for a few of the physicians while volunteering, but that is a relatively rare occurence. Most of the time I am working in various areas within the clinic (pharmacy, check-in, patient registration etc.). One of the reasons I enjoy working in the free health clinic is because the amount of direct contact I am allowed with the patients, whereas such contact is a bit more limited in a hospital setting.

Also, I have at this point about 170hrs of physician shadowing between 4 different specialties (2 primary care, 1 DO) other than what I have done at the clinic.

 

[Catalystik]

Everything you've shared sounds very reassuring. Keep up the good work.